


You and I, Right or Wrong

by waitingforaflame



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M, Just some Roy/Jade goodness, Mentions of Sex, Pre-Invasion, Prompt Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-25
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:00:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,190
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23307964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waitingforaflame/pseuds/waitingforaflame
Summary: A collection of short drabbles centered around CheshRoy.
Relationships: Roy Harper/Jade Nguyen
Comments: 8
Kudos: 25





	1. The Blood of the Covenant is Thicker Than the Water of the Womb

**Author's Note:**

> This collection of seven fics was inspired by a Discord prompt challenge! I'm a couple of days behind, but I'll catch up. 
> 
> Prompt #1: You are more family then my own blood

For the most part, Jade had a sense of humor. Irony, she loved it. It was why she had a safehouse in Paris, the city of love. The place was small, desperately romantic and quietly hidden in a local neighborhood, far from the tourists. If she squinted through the living room window, she could even see the Eiffel Tower. 

It was the last place she expected to bring Roy Harper. 

When his cover had been blown with the Shadows, Jade had exactly two seconds to decide. The smart decision would have been to leave him to fend for himself, but she knew his chances of survival would have been slim to none. So, she’d acted. Two straight days of travel later, and there they were. In front of her stupidly romantic safehouse. See the irony?

“Do you have a key?” Roy asked, his voice cracking with the utter exhaustion they both felt. 

Jade raised a brow before pulling a pin out from the pocket by her thigh. “Didn’t exactly have time to pack.” 

“Right.”

Her fingers trembled as she picked the lock, already thinking about the lush bed waiting for her. A quick cat nap, some food, and then they’d figure out their next steps. After a few heavy, painful minutes, the lock finally succumbed to her attempt and they were in. 

Jade had acknowledged that she’d been wounded at some point in the fight, but placed the thought in the back of her mind, for a safer moment. She’d loosely bandaged herself at some point in their getaway, but now she could fully inspect the damage. While Roy lingered in the foyer, she made a beeline to her bathroom, stripping off the blood-soaked kimono and leaving it on the floor; it would make good kindling for a fire later. Granted, it was a bit warm for a fire, but the evidence had to be disposed of. 

In the mirror, she assessed the damage. The snarls in her hair would take at least an hour to comb out, but the gash across her stomach was shallow. Annoyingly painful, but Jade had lived through worse. With the medical assessment complete, she turned on the faucet in the tub and stripped off the rest of her clothing. 

Roy entered the bathroom in the middle of her soak. He’d taken off his mask, and his blue eyes were red-rimmed with exhaustion. Jade nodded in acknowledgement but waited for him to break the silence. Any other day, she would have beckoned him to join her. Instead she remained quiet, watching as he slumped onto the bathroom tile. 

“You saved my life,” he finally said. Roy turned his gaze to meet hers, his wrinkled brow scrunched further in thought. “But I can’t exactly pinpoint why.”

Jade shrugged in response before leaning her head back against the bathtub. She couldn’t tell him why either. By all accounts, it didn’t make sense. She’d risked everything to save him; her reputation, her standing with the Shadows, and even her own life. 

The truth was, she didn’t know what her feelings were for Roy Harper. Sure, messing around with him was fun, but a good lay wasn’t enough reason to sacrifice everything for his sake. No, it was more than that. Between being partnered together on assignments for the Shadows and having him in her bed, she’d started to develop something more for him. Something she wasn’t yet quite ready to confront. 

“We’ll need to lay low here for a day or two, keep the Shadows off our tail.” Jade plucked herself from the tub and gently wrapped herself in a white towel, ignoring the way his eyes followed her every move. “Where’s your nearest equipment cache?” 

“Amsterdam.”

She nodded, wringing her hair out over the tub before unplugging the drain. “Then we’ll head there next.”

“And then what?”

“And then we find Speedy.” Jade didn’t wait around for his response, instead seeking out some clean clothes from the closet. Luckily, she’d kept a few basics in store. Maybe the romantic in her thought she’d explore Paris one day. 

Roy followed her into the bedroom as expected. “What do you mean ‘we find Speedy’?”

“I don’t like repeating myself, Harper,” she breathed, slipping into a cotton shirt. “Do me a favor: save the dramatics for tomorrow, I need at least two hours of sleep before my normal quips have resumed.” Jade paused, noting the ache in her stomach. “And a croissant.”

“I’m not joking around here, Chesh.”

“And I am?” Once clothed, Jade stepped closer to him and nodded to the bathroom. “Clean up, then come to bed.” 

Roy’s eyes kept steady on hers, and she could nearly recite the conflicted dialogue running through his head at the moment. He had no reason to trust her, and yet, she’d saved his life. What was he to make of that? Jade couldn’t, and didn’t, blame him. 

“You have family,” he muttered, reaching out and tucking a wet lock of hair behind her ear. “You’re out of the Shadows, you could go back to them.” 

Jade scoffed at the thought. She’d never be accepted back home, not that she wanted to be. Her mother had probably disowned her existence once she learned of her daughter’s identity as Cheshire. And Artemis… was better off without her. She didn’t need the Shadows coming after either one of them. No, for the moment, he was her family of choice. 

Jade didn’t say that part aloud. Instead she leaned forward and pressed her lips against his, feeling his resolve weaken as it always did. When she’d had her fill, she pulled away with a smirk. “The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb.”

“How romantic,” Roy muttered. “You mentioned a bed?” he said, finally taking notice of his surroundings. His eyes landed on the plush bed and looked at it with a sense of longing Jade understood all too well in the current moment. 

“And croissants for breakfast,” she replied, stealing one more kiss before pulling away. “Go shower.”

Once he was gone, Jade allowed herself to climb into bed. She wouldn’t sleep yet, not until he’d joined her. It was more practical than sentimental; despite her present feelings, she didn’t trust him not to go off and do something stupid. No, for now, she was content to stave off sleep for a few more minutes, listening to the shower run and waiting for the archer to join her once again.


	2. The Reason

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt #2: Why [would] you do that?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt #2: Why [would] you do that?

Jade still didn’t like Gotham. 

No matter how much time she spent there, she couldn’t get over her distaste for the city. She had a safehouse here, but only used it when she wanted to check up on her mother, or Artemis. Not that they knew, and if they did, she was long gone before they could call for her; family reunions weren’t her cup of tea. 

When Jade did come around to Gotham, she tried to stay for a few hours at most. She’d brought Roy here, once, when they needed to stock up on supplies before proceeding to Singapore. Figures that he would come back here to wait her out; she was nothing if not predictable. 

When she left him stranded in Bruges, she didn’t think she was going to come back. There was no reason for her to go back to him. His obsession with finding that Speedy kid was growing far too intense for her liking. More often than not, his moods were low, and she was often on the receiving end of it. In Bruges she’d had enough, and left him without so much as a note. And yet, here she was, back in bed with him without so much as an apology.

“You’re cruel,” he muttered into her hair, squeezing her waist before climbing out of bed. “Six weeks, Chesh.” 

She propped herself on her elbows with a grin. “How sweet. You counted.”

“Of course I counted, you have all the leads. Next time you’re pissed, at least leave those behind so I don’t go on a bunch of dead ends.” Jade rolled her eyes, reaching under the bed for her discarded clothes while he also redressed. 

“Next time I’m pissed, I might just disappear for good.” 

Roy joined her again, silencing her with a swift kiss that admittedly left her dizzy. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“That’s my line, Red.”

“And I stole it.” Roy paused, letting out a deep breath, almost like he’d been holding it in. “I got you something.” Jade wasn’t sure if the flush in his cheeks was from the intensity of their kiss, or from whatever he was hiding from her. 

She rocked her hips against his, pressing him further against the bed frame. “Why would you do that?” 

Roy chuckled, a dry sound that startled Jade; he hadn’t laughed in weeks. “I don’t know,” he admitted, gently pushing her off of him and holding her wrist. “But I did.” His thumb rested by her pulse, stirring a feeling in Jade that she had to fight to ignore. 

“Well now I’m curious,” she purred. 

Roy didn’t respond. Instead, he reached into his pocket, pulling out what looked very much like a ring. He held it in between his fingers, letting out a deep breath. “I don’t know what I was thinking,” he sighed, unable to meet her eyes just yet. “But you… you pissed me off, leaving like that. Looking for Roy without you,  _ being _ without you… just didn’t feel right anymore.” 

Jade blinked, unsure if she was hearing correctly. Last she checked, they were fighting, and now he was proposing? Roy caught the look on her face and laughed, almost pathetically, “We make a pretty good team. So I thought…” he trailed off before shaking his head. “It’s stupid.”

“Getting married? Incredibly.”

“Yeah.” Roy let go of her wrist, pocketing the ring again. “I wasn’t thinking straight. I’m a clone, I don’t get to steal Roy’s life like this. I can’t take another fucking thing away from him.”

Jade’s face immediately fell, her unimpressed facade broken. She rested a hand on his shoulder, trying to offer the only show of sympathy she could think of. “That’s not what I meant. You’re not taking anything away from him, Roy—” 

“But that’s just it, Jade,” he spat, rejecting her touch and moving away. “I’m not Roy. I’m his clone, a worthless copy,” he grunted, pausing to run a hand over his head. “Why should I get to do anything when he’s still trapped somewhere?”

“We’ll find him,” Jade swore. “We’ve barely started looking.” When he didn’t respond, she took a step closer, grabbing his chin with her fingers and tilting his head upwards so he was looking at her. “Just because he’s the original, doesn’t mean that you’re any less important.”

“And why’s that?” Roy asked bitterly. 

A normal girl might have professed her love to him. There would be a whole speech, a moment of declaration with perfect words of reassurance. Jade was never one for normalcy. Instead, she pulled his head down again so she could kiss him. She did love him, she just didn’t quite know how to say it, yet. To her satisfaction, he kissed her back, seeming to understand what she was getting at. 

Jade pulled away first, resting a hand against the back of his neck as they both caught their breaths. Roy recovered first, muttering a soft ‘I need you’ in her ear before proceeding to kiss her neck. His kisses were nice, but she couldn’t ignore that they were at a stalemate now: a ring was waiting in his pocket, and she still hadn’t given him an answer. So, she reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the ring, a tiny thing encrusted with a singular gem: a jade. 

“You can’t be serious,” she muttered. “A diamond wasn’t good enough?” 

“No.” Roy lifted his head from the crook of her neck, giving her a wry smile. It was small, but there. “You were gone for weeks. I thought this was a suitable punishment.”

Jade hummed in response. “Fair enough.” 

“Is that a yes?”

“Don’t get too excited. It’s not like we can make it legal.” Roy shrugged before he kissed her, long and hard. Within moments, the ring was on her finger. It wouldn’t stay there for long, but for now, she’d admire it. Later that night, once he’d ravaged her and given her a punishment much more to her liking, that she lay awake, fingering the tiny jade. Maybe there was a reason she kept coming back to him. 

  
In fact, maybe  _ he _ was her reason. 


	3. The Biggest Risk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lawrence has a few choice words for his daughter after discovering her predicament.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt #3: You cannot believe you stand any chance to win.

It took thirteen months for Lawrence Crock to finally find her; if she wasn’t so annoyed that he’d managed, Jade would have congratulated herself on the new record.

“Don’t cause a scene,” he said, so calmly that no one passing would have been the wiser. Like the prick he was, he’d ambushed her as she was shopping for prenatal vitamins. Jade grit her teeth, wanting nothing more than to yank the kunai from out of the waistband of her jeans and right into his vital organs, but he was right. She was laying low, she couldn’t cause a scene even if she wanted to. And God, how she wanted to. 

Instead, she picked up a bottle of vitamins, avoiding her father’s gaze by reading the ingredients. “So, you found me. Congratulations.”

Lawrence shrugged, leaning against the tallest shelf. “I wouldn’t if your mother hadn’t told me about your little predicament. You messed up, Little Girl.”

“Clearly,” Jade muttered under her breath. “What do you want, Crusher? Come to gloat?” she asked, placing the vitamins in her basket. To her chagrin, Lawrence took them out, replacing them with a different brand.

“Your mom took these,” he explained, grabbing a protein bar from the shelf across and ripping it open. “The Shadows aren’t happy with you.”

“Neither are most people I interact with.”

Lawrence rolled his eyes, wagging the protein bar at her. “Don’t be cheeky. You betray them for the clone—”

“A momentary lapse in judgement. Ra’s understood.”

“I knew you were dumb, but I didn’t think you were an idiot.” When Jade scoffed, Lawrence grabbed her arm and gave her the look that still haunted her some nights. She knew this look. It was the same look he gave her when she failed to properly throw her first shuriken, or when she refused to fight her sister for the first time. After years of practice, her body tensed automatically, preparing for the punishment to come. “What are you going to do with this baby, Jade? Play mommy?”

Jade scowled, yanking her arm away with a ferocity that almost made her basket spill. “None of your concern,” she hissed, pulling her sweater down farther over her stomach. A woman entered the aisle, giving the two a look before brushing past to get to the vitamins. Lawrence straightened up, cleared his throat and nodded to a more secluded corner. If she refused, she knew he would be the one to make a scene, and that was the last thing she needed. So she followed. 

“If you want to bother one of your daughters, go pick the other one,” Jade bit out. “I don’t need whatever well-intentioned advice you think you have to give me.”

“When my other daughter joins the Shadows, betrays them, gets knocked up and vanishes off the radar, then I will,” he countered. “If I found you, so can they.”

“Wouldn’t count on it. I’m rather good at disappearing.” Jade turned, browsing through the canned goods and letting out a deep breath. The baby kicked her, almost as if it were concerned. Right. She was supposed to be avoiding stress, not engaging with it. 

Lawrence shook his head, crossing his arms across his chest. “If they find out, they’ll kill you.” 

“I’d like to see anyone try.”

“You aren’t as good as you like to think you are, Little Girl. And as much as I’d like you to get your ass handed to you, you idiotically brought a baby into the picture.”

Jade narrowed her eyes, clenching her first around the handle of her basket. “What exactly are you implying?”

“You really are an idiot.” Lawrence crumpled the empty wrapper in his palm, tossing it off to the side. “Don’t get too invested in this kid, Jade. You can’t believe you have any chance to win.”

It was rare that Jade felt at a loss for words. She always had something she wanted to say, and whether she did or didn’t depended entirely on her mood. Yet now was one of those times where she couldn’t find the words to say. Of course she knew the risk of keeping this child. She’d known it from the moment she’d seen the pink plus sign on the pregnancy test. The odds that this baby, her  _ child _ , would live a normal life were slim to none. 

Still, she wasn’t doing this for herself. It wasn’t about winning, not for her, anyway; this was for Roy. This baby gave her the drive she needed to pull in her chips, to find out the truth about Speedy. If the baby did that for her, what would it do for Roy? The child deserved better than what they currently had to offer her, which was why she had to fix things. Make things right. If she could do that, then that would be enough for her. 

Jade straightened up, relaxed her shoulders. Her face fell into a calm facade, as if they were discussing anything but the possibility of her ultimate demise. “You said what you had to say. Now leave me be.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Lawrence made to grab her again but she moved away before he could. 

“No one is going to lay a hand on her,” Jade swore, and she meant it. She’d make sure of it, by any means necessary. 

Lawrence stared at her for a couple more moments before he nodded. “Fine. Do me a favor, though.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a card, with a key taped to the back. “Go somewhere safe.”

“I don’t need your help.” 

“You want to protect her, don’t you?” He shoved the card into her hand, closing her fingers around it. “It’s not that hard to track you down. Even if you avoid your old spots, they’ll go after your family. You want your sister to get involved in this? Your mother?”

Jade frowned, knowing that he was right; she really, really loathed when that happened. “Who’s place is this?” she asked, looking at the address written on the card. 

“Does it matter? You’ll be safe there. No one will come looking.” 

“I hope you’re not expecting a thank you.”

Lawrence rolled his eyes. “You’ve always been so ungrateful.” He glanced towards her stomach with a disdain that made Jade’s skin crawl, letting out a sigh. “You better take care of this, Little Girl. If this harms my rep, I’ll kill you myself.”


	4. The Domesticity Of It All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A quiet morning in the Nguyen-Harper-Crock family home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prompt #5: The more the merrier.

Jade cracked an eye open, having heard a squeak from the other room. A smirk crawled across her lips, turning to face Roy. “She’s awake.”

“There’s no way,” Roy muttered without opening his eyes. “I just put her back to bed an hour ago.” 

“You deny my mother’s intuition?” 

“One hundred percent. Your intuition let her play with knives yesterday.” Jade rolled her eyes; seems he still hadn’t gotten over that. Baby. She moved to sit up, only to be stopped by her husband. “Don’t get up. I’m telling you, there’s no way she’s up,” he repeated, snaking an arm around her waist. 

The continued creaking in the other room proved him very much incorrect, but it would take at least five minutes for Lian to finagle her way out of the crib, so Jade obliged him. It wasn’t often they were together like this. “You’re awfully cuddly today.”

“Bite me.”

“Is that a request?” Jade inched closer, grinning before she nibbled his earlobe. Her husband groaned, his hand snaking downwards and grasping her thigh. She was careful to pull away after a few moments of teasing, not needing their toddler to barge in on them like this. 

Roy frowned, his eyes still closed. “You’re mean.” 

“I’m an assassin.” 

“Yeah, a mean one.” 

Jade had to hold back a laugh, instead pushing back some hair that fell into his face. “You still haven’t opened your eyes.”

“I read somewhere that keeping your eyes closed is almost as good as napping.” He groaned, a pitiful, unattractive sound that came out almost like a whine. “I’m exhausted, Chesh.”

She understood exhaustion all too well. Lian was a precocious toddler, always on her feet and far too curious for her own good. On top of that, she was a terrible sleeper. Artemis helped out when she was home, but with her classes having resumed the past month, they were usually on their own. For the most part they handled it well. It was mornings like these, however, when they had a few minutes of peace to themselves, that they truly missed what used to be.

Still, neither of them regretted it for a single moment; they loved their daughter an absurd amount. In their own way, of course. Her and Roy weren’t ones for being overly affectionate, but Lian knew she was loved. Or so they liked to think. 

“More exhausted than when we escaped the Shadows in Port-de-France?” Jade asked, her hand still tangled in his hair. 

Roy thought about it for a moment before shaking his head. “Not that exhausted.” They were interrupted by the unsteady pitter-patter of toddler feet, followed by the telling creak of their bedroom door being pushed open. “No,” Roy groaned, finally opening his eyes. 

“Told you.”

Jade sat up, putting on a smile as she glanced at Lian. The toddler grinned, completely innocent and unaware of her parents’ exhaustion. “Hi Mama,” she said, waddling over to the side of the bed. “Up?”

“Why not?” Jade said, mostly to herself before reaching for her daughter. “The more the merrier.”

Roy grunted, nudging Jade in the side. “Magic word.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“She needs to say please.”

This whole schtick again. She should have known better, Roy was insistent on teaching Lian ‘manners’. His success was variable, given that the kid wasn’t even two. “It’s too early for this, Red.”

“I don’t care. Our daughter will say please and thank you.”

“Big talk from someone still half asleep.” Lian whined from the side of the bed, her arms impatiently waving in the air, waiting to be scooped up. Jade sighed, as dramatically as she could, giving her daughter an apologetic look. “What’s the magic word?” 

Lian frowned. “Up!” 

“Just say please, kid, before your dad has an aneurysm.” 

“Peas up!” The attempt was good enough for Jade. With a grin, she picked Lian up, smoothing down her unruly bedhead. In return, Lian flung her arms around her mother’s neck with a grin, nestling her head comfortably against her shoulder. 

Sometimes, even Jade wondered where this kid had come from. Surely she hadn’t birthed such a kind, cuddly thing. Usually, not too long after these thoughts surfaced, Lian would throw her toy with a sharp accuracy at it’s target, or give such a scowl that Jade couldn’t deny that she was her kid if she tried. 

“Aunty Mouse?” Lian asked, looking around for her aunt. 

“Not today, Lian. She had classes to go to. Some bullshit about being a responsible adult. Lame, right?”

“ _ Language _ , Jade. Do you want her going around saying ‘bullshit’?”

“Honestly?” It would be pretty funny. Jade would love to get a call from the daycare teacher if Lian’s language was the reason why. No, instead it was always these pointless summary reports, telling them how great their toddler was doing. Was there any parent who truly cared how many goldfish their child ate at daycare?

“Oh, forget it,” Roy scoffed, finally sitting up. The movement caught Lian’s attention; she eagerly lifted her head and reached for him with an enthusiastic ‘dadd-ee!’. Jade was more than happy to hand her over, letting Roy take the lead for a couple of moments. 

While he asked how Lian slept and tried to stimulate some kind of conversation, Jade went to brush her teeth and wash her face. Admittedly, it wasn’t the worst morning she’d ever spent. While it was a tad too domestic for her taste, she couldn’t deny the sense of security she felt, just lying in bed with Roy and their daughter. 

Jade lingered in the bathroom, listening to Lian’s baby voice go on about something even she couldn’t make out, unable to stop the sinking feeling in her chest. How much longer did she have to spend with them? How many more mornings did she have, just listening to their conversations, seeing the smile on her daughter’s face, or feel the touch of her husband’s hands on her body?

With a deep sigh, she knew it wouldn’t be very many.


End file.
